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OMG! Here we go! A full seven months away and Bryant Singer dropped a BOMB on us today with the new Trailer for X-MEN: FIRST CLASS 2: DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED.

The whole world is losing their minds, and JUST when you thought you couldn’t hyperventilate any more about the pure awesomeness of the whole 2 minute, 18 second trailer, I’m about to drop the eight biggest secrets about the trailer that you PROBABLY missed!

X-Men: First Class 2: Days of Future Passed

Let’s get right to it! Potential SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!

1) There might be more than two Professor Xaviers.

Oh sure, both James McAvoy and Sir Patrick Stewart are playing the same character from two different time periods, but there was a JAW-DROPPING three seconds where the TWO Xaviers are both played by Stewart. Don’t believe me? Then who is the guy in the foreground talking to?? I suppose the post-credits sequence of the third movie can let us assume more than one clone of Xavier was made.

“You’re handsome.” “No, you’re handsome.”

2) Iceman has a multi-colored-hair fetish.

What?? Ellen Page is back as Kitty Pryde, and she’s sporting a brand new hairdo. Check it out!

Your hair is so hot right now

As you recall from X-MEN and X-MEN 2: X-MEN UNITE, Bobby Drake courted young Rogue through her tumultuous years at “Mutant High,” and she absorbed physical traits from Magneto at the end of the first movie, e.g. his white hair. (GROSS OUT ALERT: Now that Michael Fassbender plays the character Magneto, technically that means Rogue could have absorbed his well-known monster dong, too. Bleck!) So Rogue sports brown hair with a white streak for two movies. And here, IN THE FUTURE, Iceman is comforting Kitty Pryde, who is strutting around with brown hair with a red streak (possibly to honor the now-dead Jean Grey?). At least the guy knows what he likes!

3) Wolverine’s mutant powers might be gone in the future.

As we saw in X-MEN ORIGINALS: WOLVERINE, Logan grew into a full sized adult in the 1860s and lived another 130-140 years without changing much, physically speaking. In this trailer, he has gray hair on his temples (possibly to honor the now-dead Jean Grey?), which demonstrates that the film takes place no more than another 15-20 years from the end of X-MEN 3: X-MEN STANDING. After all, Xavier and Magneto are still alive, putting them both in their 90s. But how would Logan suddenly be much older and have gray hair if his healing factor was still with him? If you didn’t see this past summer’s X-MEN 4: THE WOLVERINE, this is an even greater mystery.

More like, PUMP UP THE AWESOME, am I right? Singer must be a huge fan of both of them to give them supporting roles, or maybe they’re such huge fans they begged for a seat at the table. Either way, we likey some Slater and Moynihan!

5) There is a cadre of NEW MUTANTS featured.

Go, Go, Power Rangers!

If you sneezed, then you might have missed them. Bishop, Warpath, Sunspot, and Blink, two of which are known EXILES of their own time periods, show up in the post-apocalyptic setting. Anyone familiar with the comics knows these characters are FORCES to be reckoned with. Aside from our core cast, we haven’t really seen a band of mutants of such a CALIBER. And with all these mutants being featured, this is looking more and more like a GIANT SIZE movie. Without a doubt, the scope of Bryant Singer’s story is nothing short of ASTONISHING.

6) In the 1970s, Logan’s veins are literally 3/4 inches in diameter.

Barf!

Holey sha-moley. That can’t be healthy!!

7) The X-Men of the future travel to a place outside time and space to accomplish their mission.

Snowy mountaintops? Looks like the Himalayas! Funky stone carvings? Looks Egyptian! Stained glass chapels? Looks European! Perhaps in the Nexus of Time, different geographies and cultures will merge. Maybe we’ll see a Burger King in the background of one of the reverse angles! Who knows what Bryant Singer has cooking for this epic!!!!

8) Mystique, who clearly prefers to go without clothing, wears a wristwatch.

How else could young Magneto scrape her along the concrete with his powers over magnetism? Conveniently, her wrists are out of frame for this cut of the trailer, but it has to be there. Her wearing a wristwatch would also fall in line with Singer’s use of motif. Much like his use of a Southwestern motif in X-MEN 2: X-MEN UNITE, this film’s motif is obviously going to be Time itself. Look for clocks all over this thing.

Come to Magnus

We’ll be spending the next few weeks combing through this trailer frame by frame to find out more secrets about the new movie. We’ll be sure to update this page with our findings. Stay tuned, X-fans!

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS 2: DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED, directed by Bryant Singer, opens May 23, 2014.

This is it, folks! After six grueling months, we’ve whittled down 30 contestants to the final three! We’ve witnessed tests of stamina, shocking betrayals, delicious Mexican meals, and even some forbidden love between spouses on the other side of the arena wall. Tonight, the final three will square off in the battle stadium for the right to enter the Metamorpho Chamber and become America’s Top Giant Hamster of 2013! Let’s get reacquainted with our finalists, proudly presented by Taco Bell!

First up is Derek Montoya of Kansas City, Kansas! Derek was seen as an early favorite to win the competition this season, exhibiting extraordinary speed and agility and winning 8 of the first 13 endurance challenges. He outpaced other competitors in the Hamster Wheel by no less than ten seconds each time, he completed the Taco Tube Maze a record three times without ever phoning a friend, and no one else could name more U.S. Presidents from memory than he could. Derek’s successes on the field awarded him seven pellet bonuses, two whisker trophies, and a record fifteen pounds of cotton which he used to make suitable bedding. Plus his victories earned his team three delicious FourthMeals in the early weeks of the show. His military training surely contributed to his physical dominance, but I wouldn’t discount his daily 4-hour exercise routine as an excuse to avoid that crazy wife. Let’s recall that Derek’s wife, Jean, was the first audience member in the show’s history to threaten other contestants with a crossbow live on-camera.

Our second contender is Denise Gauershot. She is from Lebanon, Pennsylvania and was considered an underdog throughout most of the year. She was placed in the Coffee Can of Expulsion nearly seventy percent of the time in the first half of the season, but she always managed to avoid a complete Burial. She became a fan favorite after she got into a heated argument with Buck Langdon after losing the Water Bottle Management team challenge in week 6, finally telling him off for the way he stole his teammates’ tasty Chips and Guacamole. Buck Langdon was a fierce competitor and it seems like after he was sent to the Coffee Can and then Buried, Denise filled the void he left behind. She ended up earning her team four chewing stick rewards, two pellet bonuses and three hours in the Hamster Ball.

Finally, we have Chet Polecki from Buffalo, NY. Chet played in the NHL for the Sabres for a total of 13 minutes before a career-ending injury involving a sharp skate blade and his remaining testicle. While he never played professional hockey again, he adapted to the world of sports as an eunuch with a renewed sense of competition and a laundry list of testosterone supplements. He underwent a number of extensive surgeries and months of rehabilitation only to later explode as a world-ranked Iron Man and Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating competitor. His charity, Ball Strong, has raised nearly $41,000 in the last 12 years to benefit other professional and semiprofessional hockey players who have lost their single remaining testicle to horrific accidents and sometimes cancer.

The Taco Tube Maze hours before the audience was let into the stadium

Since Chet’s appearance on the show, Ball Strong raised nearly $2,400 in donations, and only a third of that money came from donations of plasma from family members and homeless guys who accepted a 30/70 offer up front. Chet has become an inspiration to viewers everywhere, only appearing in the Coffee Can elimination once, winning a record seven Wood Chip Tasks and being a true leader to his teammates in the Weekly Taco Bell Crunchy Gordita Value Meal Challengizer Event.

Tonight, Derek, Denise and Chet will take one more trip through the five-story Taco Tube House Maze, have another go ’round in the Hamster Wheel Steel Cage Arena, and face off in the Beefy Burrito Endurance Match. Now that we are in the finals, the intensity of this competition has reached Critically Hot salsa levels, which can only be satisfied by awarding just one of our contestants a year’s supply of icy and refreshing Pepsi Max. In the end, just one player will make history and be crowned champion. Only one will Live Más as an enormous crepuscular rodent with a brand new beach house in Santa Barbara! Only one will become… America’s Top Giant Hamster 2013!!

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I start teaching 6th grade next week, and I still have a lot of preparations to make! Today I started pre-writing all the comments I will write on my students’ returned homework assignments and tests. The toughest part is knowing I can only use each of these once per year. I’ll need thousands, but here’s the first small part of my list:

Great job!

Perfect!

Half credit — didn’t show work

See me after school!

Remarkable improvement! Keep it up!

Explain….

Please apply yourself. You’re smarter than this!

Nice try. Lincoln never publicly commented on Douglas’ looks.

Pirates can be sea captains. Not all sea captains are pirates.

OJ Simpson ran for over 11,000 career yards.

I like breakfast for dinner, too! +1

The President was born in Hawaii. Lose two points.

Spooktacular effort!

I don’t know what it means, but Geronimo was never referred to as 1337.

If you’re going to be racist, at least go all in. -1

Good first poem! Try rhyming more. (ABAB or AABB)

Banquo’s ghost, NOT Slimer. -3

Very creative! +1

a² + b² = c², duh.

MAXIM is not a valid “book” on which to write a “report.” Zero.

Have your parents sign this and return to me!!

Use blue or black ink from now on, please.

Good use of “niggardly”! +1

Well done! Merry Christmas!

Your third paragraph is just a 125-word run-on sentence. -3

???? What is Quidditch???

Wonderful summary of last year’s Oscars race. Has nothing to do with The Resurrection of Christ.

Bravo!

This was an open book test!! Do better!

Statement contradicts your thesis. -2

Fine use of the Scientific Method!

Did you even read the assignment?

Egg-cellent work!

Insightful but boring essay. Rewrite, add more explosions. B-

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Well, folks, it’s that time of year again. Less than a month before Autumn begins and I’m about to lose yet another roommate! Throughout the last ten years, I’ve had exactly ten people tell me during the month of July that they were moving out in September. You can set your watch by it, and by “set your watch,” I mean “open your monthly calendar to July and circle the date printed on today’s issue of USA Today.” Let’s face it, sometimes it’s during the first week of the month, sometimes it’s the middle, and some hang in there right to end. So when August rolls around, I try to make our last few weeks together worth something special before I’m left to find someone new to share this cozy little dumpster behind the Shop N Save.

What is it about Summer in this man’s America that makes people want to up and change everything? Every year, I search for a roommate to share this place with me and keep costs low. I set up multiple interviews with the likely candidates so we can get to know each other and discover how we would function living in the same space. Once we feel we are a match, they move right in and we’re off to a strong start. We get into a solid routine, we get used to each other’s habits and quirks, and we look out for each other. I feel I’m pretty adaptable and I know I have extended myself to get along with the person who “splits the rent” with me. I’ve had three girlfriends, one boyfriend, a med student, two different mimes, a business partner, a Rhodes Scholar, and an old man who I’m pretty sure (well, 40% sure) was a version of myself from the future all move in with me in September, and by the following July it’s “Sayonara, Chester! I’m giving you approximately 45 days notice!”

The neighbors lost their home AND guest house recently

Am I just having an Alanis moment when I realize that in same the month the Colonies declared their independence from the Brits, my roommates always declare their independence from me and this dumpster?

Ten years, ten roommates. I’d be crazy to think that they are always the problem and I just didn’t see it. Sometimes when you’re the one looking for a problem, the best place to find it is in the mirror. And I suppose that means I should go buy a mirror, and maybe some fresh linens. And some scented candles.

But was it really just me? My instincts tell me there has to be other factors instead, but when I go through them one by one, they all seem like pretty flimsy excuses. For example, I think maybe they don’t like the close quarters, but they knew the place was small and cozy when they agreed to move in. Maybe it’s because I spend a lot of time at home, but we didn’t have three interviews at Starbucks AND Seattle’s Best AND the Wal-Mart parking lot without me mentioning that I’m a homebody and kind of agoraphobic. You know, Woody Allen is agoraphobic, and he’s a very famous and successful man. Maybe their sense of adventure diminished over time and they just couldn’t bear the thought of one more year in this place. This place is absolutely an adventure! The city changes the twice-a-week pickup schedule every six months, lots of strange people try to rummage through our belongings, and holding a dinner party presents its own set of trying but not impossible challenges. One of my ex-roommates lived for two years in a tent in the Gobi desert! Surely she could handle this place, right? Then again, there is nary a dinosaur fossil to unearth around here, so I can see how it’s not the same type of adventure.

Parking’s a little tough around the neighborhood

I guess I have to accept that their feelings changed and I can’t do anything about it. It’s not any one thing; it’s not me and it’s not this apartment. Eventually the appeal to split the rent diminishes and the urge to move on bubbles to the surface. And when I say “split the rent,” that’s just my euphemism for splitting the meat of an alley rat that inevitably becomes a midweek dinner. Free meals, very few expenses to speak of, and all the sky in the world to enjoy. Yes, it’s about as “alternative living” as you can get in this urban environment. Who wants to live in a four story walkup with it’s own set of problems?

Two years ago, I deeply considered moving out of this place myself, but after thoroughly weighing the pros and cons, I realized that staying here was my best option. Here’s just a taste of what I came up with. PRO: Adjustable skylight/moonroof. CON: No in-unit laundry. PRO: Most meals are taken care of on the cheap or for free. CON: Difficult to stay “heart healthy.” PRO: It’s very easy to meet and get to know the neighbors. CON: Floor is made of steel. PRO: Automatic twice-weekly maid service. CON: No HVAC system. PRO: Little to no expenses for upkeep. CON: Walls are made of steel/hard to hang pictures.

As you can see, the pros far outweigh the cons. I’ve grown accustomed to my minimalist lifestyle and I don’t think I’ll be making a change anytime soon. This is the life for a select few in this world. And my previous ten roommates — while enthusiastic — discovered it was not the life for them.

Whoops, forgot my wallet. Meet you at the car.

My old fishing buddy, Robbie, said maybe I should leave this time, too. He says maybe I’ve simply become attached to this place and I should try out something different. He tells me I’m too close to this place to ever see that sticking around here year after year could be damaging my sense of self worth. On paper, that sounds like an interesting perspective. And you know, I trust Robbie with my life on and off the fishing boat, but he’s too dumb to realize his mechanic has been nailing his wife Janice for the last three years. How much perspective can he really have?

Anyway, these classified ads are expensive when you’re paying by the letter, so any interested parties please call me at the listed number to set up a time to meet and see the place. Good day!

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Albert Einstein once chatted up an unseemly New Jersey woman in a saloon, regaling her with his stories about trolling through New England with Neils Bohr, a man who would be Einstein’s academic nemesis but closest drinking buddy. At the end of the night, he gave her a napkin with his phone number (Woodcock 781) and the following quote, “Information is not knowledge.” Einstein was always concerned about the spread of information without context, application, and reasoning.

Today, we’re in the Informational Age, where humanity has never had greater access to all of the world’s knowledge. As more people “go online” and “Check-in at Jamba Juice,” roadblocks to information continue to break down, unless of course you’re a Chinaman. Nearly any bit of data can be Bing’ed at a moment’s notice. Want to know all the Olympic medal winners of the 1980s? Just Bing it. The names of all the satellites of all the planets in our solar system? It’s Bing time. People Magazine’s Sexiest Men Alive in 1942? Let me Bing that for you. (Hint: It’s Josef Stalin.)

A Default Bing Search

These are facts that can be quickly listed, indexed, and stored for lightning-fast access from any number of sites within Bing’s reach, all of them corroborating each other’s facts. And even still, there are many things The Internet, and — by proxy, people — gets wrong. It is less about undeniable and measurable truths, and more about the anecdotes, conjecture and tall tales that folks like to spin to sound like some Clever Carl.

Did you know there is a stunning number of people who still believe a penny thrown from the top of the Empire State Building could strike and kill a passerby, even though we all learned about terminal velocity and wind resistance in our physical science classes freshmen year? And even though The Truth is Out There on Bing, it’s still a common misconception, an old wives’ tale that is usually passed along from mother to daughter after silly questions about dandelions or the hipster bands that were on this week’s installment of Yo Gabba Gabba!

So today we’ll tackle some common beliefs that still pervade our collective consciousness in this modern post-9/11, Web 2.0, synergistic, blogonet society.

Spell it out for us, Bing!

1. The “Snap, Crackle, Pop” you hear when you pour milk over a certain brand of toasted rice cereal is actually the sound of small discharges of ozone.

FALSE. This patently false claim came from, of all places, NASA scientists circa 1965! The true origin is lost, but the widely accepted theory talks about some kind of practical joke from the aeronautics upper management team to fool the ladies in the steno pool. They warned the beehive-haired ladies to never allow their children or husband to eat the cereal without first dousing it in milk or cocoa water, lest their loved ones might suffer a stroke or a temporary case of Brain Float.

A darker account describes a purposeful, overt attempt by the scientists to spread misinformation and propaganda to the populace of certain communist Asian cultures who enjoy rice products, but there is no evidence that it ever had any impact across the Pacific.

In 1994, the U.S. Congress put together a commission to study the phenomenon. After three years and $89 million, it turns out it was the fragile, crispy walls of the toasted rice being destroyed by the change in temperature when the cold milk was added. Kellogg’s capitalized on the sound in their marketing campaigns with, “The Rice That Toots,” only to change it after 14 months to “Snap, Crackle, Pop.” Still, scores of people, particularly in rural parts of the country and in towns within a small radius of Johnson Space Center, still perpetuate the ozone story as fact. Sales of the cereal are relatively poor compared to top-selling Fruity Pebbles (which were never made from any sort of soft stone) in these regions.

Rumors need to be verified

2. As a young boy, George Washington chopped down a cherry tree with an axe and he confessed to his father after being confronted with the evidence, exclaiming “I cannot tell a lie!”

MOSTLY TRUE. For nearly two centuries, elementary schools across the United States and Bhutan have recounted the story as a lesson in ethics. The moral of the story: take responsibility for your actions and do not lie about them. (Most teachers are quick to point out that blaming the dog on unexpected flatulence is one of the rare exceptions to this morality line.) The details get a little mixed up until you dig deeper.

It is true that the Washington family’s Virginia land was littered with cherry trees and young George had taken an axe to one. But it wasn’t Washington’s father who confronted him over the act, but Bartram, the family’s house negro. Bartram found the dead tree’s remains in his quarters after supper on a summer evening, the six foot branches sprawling out from underneath his bed. He knew George often planted evidence of his troublesome pranks and vandalism to shift blame toward an innocent, which is why Bartram’s father’s shins were burned with scalding hot spoons a few years prior.

Bartram confronted the boy in the field where George was practicing his golf swing, and after much denial, George challenged him to a distance challenge. If the servant could hit the ball farther than young Washington, the boy would confess his crime. George was actually horrible at golf and he had the strength of an eight year old, so his ball traveled no more than thirty or forty yards. Bartram, on the other hand, hit the ball so hard that it nearly fell out of sight near the horizon where the future President could not see it. Impressed, young George Washington stated, “I cannot tell the lie,” and conceded Bartram’s win. Washington then confessed to his father and Bartram was not allowed any food until the next sunset.

Now we’re talking

3. Homo sapiens share 95% of their DNA with unicorns.

FALSE. Humans share 98% of their DNA with chimpanzees, but the relationship to unicorns isn’t as close. To clarify, we do share 96% of our DNA with cows, 50% with bananas, and a staggering 12% with most Buick models. There is a misconception that a unicorn is simply a pretty horse with a narwahl horn jutting from the forehead, but they are more complex creatures than that. The facts have been muddied over time and it can difficult to separate them from the myths. There is near-universal acceptance that unicorns actually share traits of other species, like the beard of a goat, the tail of a lion, and the mane of a silverback gorilla, but those are some of the most ridiculous “facts” that have been scientifically proven false.

There is confusion about some of the other truths, so let us break it down. Yes, some breeds of unicorns can fly (akin to some Northern Reindeer) and all can survive up to six minutes on the surface of the moon. It is also true that unicorn blood can be used for emergency transfusions for people, but the usual side effects make the procedure risky. One out of every twenty cases results in the recipient’s soul transported to the Plane of Wailing, and only five percent of those people return mentally unharmed.

With the unicorn population in sharp decline since 1900, there have been limited opportunities for proper verification. As you can tell, it would take even some of the most industrious Bing user a few hours to work through all the websites out there offering conflicting information. But to answer the myth: Bronx Zoo scientists completed DNA sequencing from tissues of the last unicorn held in captivity (Lula, who perished by choking on errant fairydust in 1943) and concluded human and unicorn DNA are only 8% alike. Common traits are related to having two eyeballs and the capacity to feel jealousy.

The results of scientific studies and accurate historical facts often take a back seat to bedtime stories that are repeated every generation. Separate the facts from the myths, as Einstein would, or you may end up like Richard Nixon, who famously lost Final Jeopardy! in 1985 with his question, “What are Lee Jeans?”

This is the Official FAQ for my Mister Ed/Quantum Leap fanfiction series, “Quantum Ed.”

2. What is “Quantum Ed”?

“Quantum Ed” is a fanfiction series that combines the popular late 80s NBC sci-fi show “Quantum Leap” and the 1960s CBS show, “Mister Ed.” It is currently nearing the end of its second season of 22 episodes.

Quantum Ed Season 2 “cover art”

3. How many episodes are there?

Season 1 had 12 regular episodes and a 13th that was almost double in size. Season 2 will end up at 22 regularly sized episodes.

4. Who are these characters?

You can get complete dossiers on the main site where you can read detailed biographies on Sam, Al, Ziggy, Gushie, Mister Ed, Wilbur Post, etc.

5. What is with all the shorthand and acronyms all over the descriptions, etc?

It’s just easier to use acronyms instead of typing long phrases out a million times. Here’s a guide that should get you through most of it:

QL stands for Quantum Leap, usually also referring to a season and/or episode. ME stands for Mister Ed. QE is my show, Quantum Ed. For example, if an episode of Quantum Ed takes place right after QLS1E11, and right before MES1E6 then it would fall right after Sam’s main storyline Leap in Quantum Leap, Season 1, Episode 11, and right before all the action seen in Mister Ed, Season 1, Episode 6. BE stands for “Before-Event,” which is a reference to a nearly cataclysmic event that occurred in the beginning of QES2 but that also solidified Sam’s place in Mister Ed canon. You’ll often see editorial notes referring to previous episodes or memories that are either BE or PE (Before-Event or Post-Event).

6. Post-Event. That’s clever.

Thank you.🙂

7. Do you adhere to established continuity for either show?

My show, “Quantum Ed,” is designed to fit into the continuity of both shows without affecting the ‘canon’ of either one.

8. How is that?

The magic of time travel! And Sam’s Swiss cheese memory. And Mister Ed’s penchant for keeping things close to the vest. Sam leaps in and out of the Mister Ed-iverse multiple times throughout his time-traveling career. As we’ve seen, he leaped 15 times during QLS1, 3 ‘lost’ times sometime between QLS1 and QLS2, and now 15 times during QLS2.

9. In Quantum Leap, Sam leaps into the lives of people all around him. Why would he still leap into the lives of Ed, Wilbur, and all the rest?

Why wouldn’t he? Everybody needs saving, and sometimes more than once. The great thing is that Sam leaps in and out of their lives at different times.

10. Season 1 and Season 2 of Quantum Ed seem to have different feels to them.

Good catch! Season 1, as with most of my fanfiction series, was designed as a one-off season where Project Quantum Leap and the Mister Ed-iverse found themselves inexorably linked multiple times. Because of the series’ huge popularity, I knew it would survive at least another season. But as a careful reader will notice, more time and care has been taken to establish a ‘mythology’ and some overarching storylines for season 2.

11. How far ahead have you planned?

My dream would be to have 5 seasons, mirroring the run of the original Quantum Leap, but I’ve plotted out most major points through season 4. If we’re still going strong at the start of QES4, I will have set up a sweet story that will take us to the end of QES5. And it is extremely doubtful we’ll see beyond season 5.

12. So who is this guy Sam keeps Leaping into?

Jack Barnes. Jack is a neighbor of Wilbur’s and Roger’s, who technically shows up late in MES5 for one episode, but was never a major character. But just because Jack never appeared in the first four seasons doesn’t mean he wasn’t around the whole time. It’s the same reason we never see Ed talking to Sam during MES1 either.😉.

13. Any chance we’ll see any other Leapers?

Some readers have posited that the reason Wilbur and Ed continue to need Sam’s help is because of another unseen Leaper. Stay tuned to find out what’s really going on!

Ed and Al: True Friends

14. So Mr. Ed never travels through time?

Well, even Al Leaped in QLS4, so anything is possible.🙂

15. I have a great idea for a story/episode/arc….

I can’t accept unsolicited submissions, but if you want to have a discussion off-site about how you can contribute to the Quantum Ed-iverse, I’d be happy to chat. Skype me or drop me an e-mail anytime. I’m not against talented individuals helming spin-off mini-series type things, but the stories would have to match my vision for the series, and that’s not exactly clear to the readers.🙂

16. I have a theory….

Check out the forums (they’re free to register and use) and discuss your theories with other fans. I like hearing what you guys think is really going on, and I’ll often tease some info for the upcoming episodes.

17. Will Sam’s next Leap ever be the Leap Home?

The last episode of QLS5 kind of prevents that from being permanent. I’d like to think that Sam makes it home one day, even for a short visit. Stay tuned..!

18. Ed and Al seem to be kindred spirits these days. Did you plan that all along?

Sometimes characters and their relationships evolve while you’re putting words on the page, and you can’t do anything but just let it happen. So, it wasn’t my original intention, but their relationship just became so perfect as the series progressed. When I have to write an Ed/Al scene, I just get out of the way and let the characters do all the work.

19. In QES2E02, Sam Leaped into a character that was stuck underneath a bunch of rubble after a big earthquake. Did he Leap into Ed?

Sam Leaped into that character for only a few minutes, but that was all that was necessary for the purposes of that character. We’ll revisit that Leap in the future, but I’m not saying when. All will be revealed by the end..!

Welcome back, kids! This post will serve as the authoritative source for all things related to the next Batman movie, so keep it bookmarked! The Innernet’s been abuzz about some definitive news coming out of Hollywood about the final chapter in the Batman Begins Thrillogy Trilogy. Director Christopher Noland has let loose some facts to finally add to the dearth of info and quash some rumors that have circulated since 2008’s cash-swollen earner, “Batman Begins 2: The Dark Night.” Warner Brothers must have put the pressure on him after he spent two years crafting the commercial and artistic flop that was this past summer’s “Inception.” So when the boss starts hounding you, you get to work!

Let’s start by getting to the meat of what we do know.

OUT! Joseph Gordon-Levitt so far has not been cast as the Riddler, and Noland has rejected all rumors about the Riddler showing up in the movie. But I’m still holding onto hope that he’s handing out red herrings and we’ll get an appearance by a more cerebral and reserved Riddler, rather than the cartoonish version Jim Carrey brilliantly portrayed in the Burton/Schumacher Fourpeat Quadranglogy. Now I’m just spitballing here… as a nod to that series, Riddler could have a connection to Two-Face, like they were brought together in a Big Brothers program years ago and Harvey Dent mentored a young Edward Nigma.

Badass. Now put them both in a Batman movie!

IN! Tom Hardy, who made a name for himself in 2002’s “Star Trek: Nemesis,” has been cast in an unnamed but pivotal role. Rampant nerd speculation favors him to be playing one of three different roles: Mister Freeze, Mad Hatter, or Joe Chill. The underdog favorite, of course, is Nightwing. Some have said he could play Alfred’s son OR Alfred from 40 years ago, but I don’t know if Noland is ready to introduce time travel into the series. I figure the time-traveling Pennyworth angle is bunk, because Noland probably wants to get away from the sci-fi aspect, like in the second film with Joker’s overuse of teleportation.

MAYBE! Speaking of… there has been no talk of the Joker whatsoever, and Noland has stated the third film will feature a new villain taking center stage. Seeing as Scarecrow showed up in the first act of The Dark Night, though, might we see a Heath Ledger cameo in the third movie? The director has been mum on that so far, but let’s not waste too much time on it just in case he has a surprise in store for the fans. Bringing the Joker back would be nothing short of legendary.

RUMOR! Gene Hackman returns as Lex Luthor! Well, “returns” might be a stretch, since he was never in a Batman movie, but the idea that Noland could shoehorn his epic Batman series into the same universe as the Richard Donner Superman films is three parts mind-blowing, two parts mega-ballsy, and one part extra-brilliant. Hackman’s camp has so-far denied any committed involvement in the franchise, but actors have to play coy until they actually sign the contracts. I just don’t think there is a better way to reintroduce audiences to Lex Luthor than by having him set up shop in Gotham in the next Batman movie, played by the man who redefined the character for the ages!

If only!

TITLE SPECULATION! I guess we can rule out the long-running favorite title, “Batman Begins 3: Trial of the Riddler,” for obvious reasons. I still think Christian Bale’s Batman on the Prosecution team trying to put Riddler behind bars would be epic, because it would be a battle of wits never before seen on film. Imagine the Riddler going all In Propria Persona up against the Batman while Gotham’s protector growls that in stopping Riddler from destroying the city’s financial infrastructure, breaking his collar bone was de minimis. Anything’s possible… so why can’t a Batman movie be a courtroom drama? And you know the judge would have to quiet him every time a witness swore the oath. “Swear to mmmmeee!!!!”

The other popular title that’s been preferred by 2 out of 5 geeks is, “Batman Begins 3: Nightfall,” where the story could feature Bane (Tom Hardy??) breaking the back of Gotham’s hero, only to see Azrael (Tom Hardy in a dual role??) step in an take over the mantle of Batman, just as we saw in the comics in the early 1990s. To do this story right, Christian Bale would probably only be featured in the film for maybe 20-30 minutes total, maybe just bookending the movie in the first and third act. The franchise is getting kind of old and audiences are growing tired of Bale’s Batman, anyway, so using Azrael would allow for the franchise to continue with a fresh, new Batman in place. That way, Bale and Noland don’t have to worry about making more installments together. Don’t tell anyone, but I probably wouldn’t mind if Commissioner Gordon was transferred to Coast City or somewhere in between the second and third movie so we can move on from that character, too.

Other titles that have made the rounds but Noland and Warner Brothers won’t comment on is “Batman Begins 3: Enter Clayface,” “Ventriloquist Rising,” and “Revenge of Killer Croc.”

T-.5 seconds to awesome

OTHER THOUGHTS! “Batman Begins 2: The Dark Night” was a pretty bland Batman movie, but it did have some great scenes like the Lower Wacker Drive chase and the explosion of Maggie Gyllenhaal. Audiences came in droves and plunked down big money to watch Gyllenhaal get obliterated in IMAX, so a third movie was inevitable. But how does any filmmaker top the demolition of the old Brach’s Candy factory (A U.S. landmark if there ever was one, which also doubled for Gotham General Hospital), Gyllenhaal’s funeral pyre, and a teleporting psychopath in white facepaint? The Batman rogue’s gallery is full of fun and interesting villains, like the Penguin, Poison Ivy, and Calendar Man, plus great supporting characters like Robin, Batgirl and Catwoman. It has to be incredibly difficult for an auteur like Christopher Noland to decide which ones to include on his probable final entry in the franchise. Does he bring in Talia Al Ghul and pick up where the first movie left off, or does decide to move production to Rome and again pretend the exterior of Gotham City is the same as the other movies? Will he keep the story closely related to the Batman mythos, or does he play ball with Warner Brothers and let Ryan Reynolds make a cameo to bridge the release of “Green Lantern 2: Green Lantern Lives,” the purported sequel to next summer’s inevitable smash hit, “The Green Lantern?”

More news is certainly going to be coming down the pipe in the next few months, so stay tuned for all the latest Batman talk while we sort through the news and rumors! Don’t forget to post your theories and wish-lists for the next film. And be sure to check out my original review of BB2: The Dark Night when you get a chance. Thanks for stopping by!